


Hello Within A Goodbye

by Goldendoodlegamer11



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Choices, Angst, Brought to you by Manny, Death, Different Choices, Funeral, Gen, Grief, Hah what else is new, Matt and Nikita have to learn to get along, None of them do tbh, Probably Happy/Cliffhanger Ending, Safiya didn’t deserve this, Teamwork, This story was requested!, Truth Bombs, saying goodbye, twist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldendoodlegamer11/pseuds/Goldendoodlegamer11
Summary: Nikita struggles against the familiar feeling; closing her heart. They don't matter. They don't matter. It doesn't matter. She's done that all night; close her heart to everyone else, speak facts, walk on. But when a twist sends one of their best challengers six feet under, so to speak, Nikita has to decide what's more important; her pride, or the people she's now subconsciously classified as family.





	Hello Within A Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [canufeelthemagictonight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Escape the Night: A Continuation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15569016) by [canufeelthemagictonight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight). 



> This story is for my friend canufeelthemagictonight! She proposed the idea that Matt and the others held a funeral to say one last goodbye to Safiya after her death, but Manny and Nikita didn't show. Then she asked me to write an alternate choice to that where they DID show up! So I hope you all enjoy!

They made it.

They're practically dancing, the Troublemaker and her Record Producer. They're both safe - _alive_. Both thrown off the deep end and emerging victorious. Nikita knew it - nothing could take them down. They were going to survive, kill this "Carnival Master" and burn down the town for good measure.   
And they were both thrown into a challenge together. 

No two people have exited from a challenge alive before. They both know that all too well. But now it's possible, and they're both here, and breathing happily, and _alive._ She's never going to take Manny for granted again, she swears on her heart.

 

And it's time to show everyone how strong they are.

 

" _We're alive!_ " Manny announces into the lounge as he and Nikita make their triumphed return. But no one cheers. No one's gasping and standing, ready to embrace them. Instead, they're all crowded around something, and as Nikita sees a hand; it's a body. Nikita's stomach twists as she realizes - it's Safiya's body. A gross dark maroon patch of blood is slowly seeping out oh her side, near her abdomen. Her hand lays limply, and her face is twisted into a last expression of horror and confusion.

But the real shocker is everyone's reactions. Joey is horrified, covering his mouth with his hands and shaking. Rosanna has tears bubbling over her eyes in pools, burying her mouth and sniffling nose into her hands. And Matt. He's kneeled, grasping her other hand, and Nikita can practically _see_ all the things going off inside his head.  
Suddenly, understanding creeps up on her like a shadow, settling into her bones and freezing them.

And she realizes.  _Safiya voted for me._

 _  
_ She looks at Matt, who's shaking horribly. Joey talks first. "What happened? _Why is she dead?_ " Nikita's eyes move at a million miles an hour all around the room to avoid looking at the body. She quickly finds Manny's hand and takes it, squeezing it so hard she's scared she'll break it.

"You're _both_ here?" The tone of the speaker is accusatory, angry. Matt. The Detective's face holds a scowl. His eyes are red around the edges and watery. "How did you both survive? -" His voice breaks. A wave of panic nearly sweeps the Troublemaker off her feet. _No, don't feel bad for him. People have to die. Close your heat. It doesn't matter; she doesn't matter._

 

She blinks, hard, and takes the second to build walls around her heart. Brick by brick. A steady colorful tower of self-comforting lies and angry accusations to cover up her emotions.

She chants it, over and over again.  
_It doesn't matter; she doesn't matter._

 

She doesn’t matter.

 

Nikita opens her eyes. Everything's fine, or as fine as it can be. She looks to Matt. "There was a box at the end of the challenge,” she explains in the monotone indifference she's made herself known to over these past few hours. "It told us that the person who voted for us-" She stops as her throat catches. She swallows hard. "Would die. It was a twist. And I won." Even as she says it, her cheeks feel splashed with a light coral colour. Ro raises her face slightly. She's stopped crying and instead has sat down, listening to the conversation.  
But Nikita doesn't care. Something stirs within her.

She dares to continue, and she does. "And if it was either me or her, then I'd rather her go any day. Safiya's dead - sure, be sad, whatever - but it's a terrible game, and there will be terrible consequences. It was a twist. She had to die." She says the last part with such conviction that she believes it. Matt looks appalled.

  
More thoughts look like they're completely flooding his head, like a super-computer who has too much stuff and not enough space to put it in. He stands, and the flood turns to a thunderstorm of anger. Nikita can almost taste the electric current of the coming storm in the air. "You're saying it like you don't even care! Like she didn't matter! She was one of the smartest people here, and you just shrug her off! Like it’s a small inconvenience!”  
"I'm just saying-"  
The tension snaps. Matt explodes. "How _DARE_ you! She died and what you just said is beyond -" He clenches his fist. " _-selfish!_ I don't know how you can stand there and say that when YOU haven't even lost someone close to you!" He waves his hand around at an alarming rate.

 

Nikita's suddenly angry, and her fists clench. “Listen! She voted me in - she _deserved_ to die! Would you be acting this way if I was the one who died!?"

" _Shut up!_ " Matt screams, jabbing his finger at her. Nikita matches his outrage easily. "Don't tell me to-"

 

"Enough!" Joey cries. "Both of you!" He looks calmly between the two of them. “It doesn’t matter now. We just need to move on.”

Nikita couldn’t agree more. Yes, it sucks that Safiya's dead and she gets why Matt might’ve been attached, but getting attached hasn’t gotten any of them anywhere. She has Manny, and that’s enough. Yet Matt is so attached to everyone; being in agony over losing JC; trying desperately to save Roi; even not minding Teala in the slightest. But Nikita has a mission-to get her and Manny out of here - and she can’t do that with a clean conscience if she’s stuck being heartbroken over everyone who’s dead. _You we’re scared to lose Manny,_ a small voice whispers in her head. She crushes the voice in her hand.

"Well, we have the artifact now, and that's what matters." Nikita places the light-bulb inside of the small spiral artifact. It glows a periwinkle colour and then disappears. _Willy's probably dead,_ Nikita thinks weakly in relief. "Alright, let's go get the next one."

"No," Is Matt's quick reply. "I'm not doing anything until we find a better resting place for Safiya. She deserves better than the floor." Nikita resists the urge to strangle him here and now. Doesn't he knows they're on a time limit? Before she can interject, however, Calliope steps forward.

 

"There is a funeral home not far from here. I can take you, if you want."   
That's all it takes for Matt to gingerly pick Safiya's body up from the floor and tell Calliope to lead the way. Safiya lies limply in Matt’s arms, black hair draping over and her eyes still open. Nikita crinkles her nose slightly, but says nothing, daring herself to not look away.

Rosanna looks back mildly at the pair. Then she's at Matt's side, and they both leave the lounge. She's muttering something under her breath that sounds like. "No, no.." Joey stays for a second. “Are you coming?” he asks. There’s a mild aggravated tone to his voice. Nikita hardens her stare.

 

"Why would we? We’re going to get a drink.”

"But-" Manny starts.

"Come on Manny.” Nikita stomps past Joey, grabbing her best friends arm and guiding him to Fat Man Slim’s.

She refuses to look back at the others. 

 

They reach the bar with its blue-purple lighting and hickory-brown floor and tables, and Nikita takes one of the seats. The bartender looks up at him. He's cute, with floppy brown hair and a slight smile, but Nikita doesn't have the energy for pleasantries right now. She orders two drinks for her and Manny. The bartender walks away, and Manny sits.

When he does, she immediately wraps him into a hug. "Don't scare me like that. You almost died."  
Manny gives a hollow chuckle. "Yeah. Don't remind me." 

"You better not leave me again," Nikita remarks as the bartender hands her her drink. She's too tired to thank him. "We still need to finish what we started."

 

"What's that?"  
"Burning this place to the ground," She replies, shrugging as if it's obvious. She expects Manny to laugh, to nod, to give her a snarky reply, anything - but instead his brows furrow semi-anxiously. "Yeah, but...I feel like we should go to the funeral. Don't you?"

 _Oh, not you too!_ "Manny, if Matt really wanted us to be there, he would've asked us."

"Yeah, but he really was upset about Safiya. She didn't deserve to die like that."

 

"She voted for us!" Nikita can't believe he's talking like this.

He sighs irritably, while sudden confused tears make her throat screw up slightly. Not enough to panic about. She grabs her drink tighter.

 

“Nikita, you just told him that his best friend dying was alright!”

"They are NOT best friends, they met today.”

"That doesn’t matter. They formed a special bond, they cared about each-other, and he lost her." Manny pauses. Nikita takes another sip of her drink, slowly. The neon lights over the bar flicker and wink in teal colour. Her seat suddenly feels too lopsided and squeaky. She moves uncomfortably.

She takes a long gulp of her drink. Maybe it'll make the guilt go away.  
"What would you do if it was me who died?" The question makes the warm and savory flavor turn to acid in her mouth, and she nearly coughs it up. But she chokes it down.

 

She remembers _being on the olive green striped floor of the upside-down part of the Funhouse._  
_Willy's sickeningly happy voice and Manny cursing loudly from the other side of the Funhouse._

 _"We have our winner!"  The man with four faces had announced, and Nikita had felt like the whole world itself was crumbling around her._  
_She was way too exhausted even to cry, and she covered in her hands in her face as her gut had twisted like nothing before, and her legs gave out as she had sunk to the floor. Nikita felt like she was drowning in quicksand, and a million memories had marched around in her head. She was never going to see him again after this, never have the nerve to tell his family what happened to him, never be able to say how he really died at his funeral._  
_She had felt shattered._

_And then, the relief when it was announced they both could survive. How she suddenly felt like the world was upright again, like she and him were both phoenixes rising from the ashes and ready to destroy everything. She was relieved. And then they read the second part of the note._

'The very good news, however, is that the person who voted the winner into the challenge is getting their guts torn out **right now.** '

 

And then she imagines if it had been her and someone else. If Manny had suddenly gotten his guts completely stabbed in, bleeding out onto the floor without Nikita there. Sudden anger surges in her veins, and even for a hypothetical question it sickens her to her very core. 

"Well," Nikita says slowly, not wanting to give too many of her emotions away. "I would feel angry. _Insanely_ angry. How dare this town go back on its word and kill you!" Without thinking, she finds the swirling sickening anger rising higher and higher. "How - how DARE they try to pretend that it's some cutie twist that keeps us on our toes. One of us should've died in that challenge, fair and square, even if I cared about the person I was in the challenge with. _They tore your guts open! And for no one to care!? I-"_ She stops.

 

Manny's looking at her with a slight smirk, and understanding makes its way into Nikita's chest and heart. She blinks hard. _She was part of the team. And I completely disregarded her. And for what? Pride?_ She looks directly at Manny and grabs his arm. "We need to go. Now." 

-

They reach the funeral home, and Safiya feels so heavy in Matt's arms. He's shaking, he knows, but he lifts his head up high. He can't look down at her; at her broken and twisted expression, her last protest of her hand shooting out, the blood that's spread all down her abdomen and hip. It keeps playing in his mind, over and over again.

Willy cornering her; him stabbing her with a fishhook; her twisted face and dropped mouth; Matt and the others screaming themselves hoarse in confusion and terror; Safiya dropping; "Thanks for playing!". Angry tears sting his eyes. She didn't deserve to die. She should have at least had a fair fight, in a challenge, not killed by some stupid trick just to toy with them.   
Rosanna's by his side, looking at the ground and clutching her arms, shivering despite the summer warmth in the air. Joey is looking to the side, expression unreadable, white-blonde wavy hair bobbing in thought. Matt can never seem to tell what's going on in his head.

He hopes it's remorse.

 

They reach the funeral home. It's a dark spruce colour, and it looks pretty dea-dilapidated. "No one here has died in years," Calliope explains softly. "Well, guess that's changed now too," Mortimer offers. No one laughs. They enter, and Matt's never seen a building in worse shape. Half of the roof is completely gone, letting the green-and-black sky conquer the lighting despite the lights being on, bathing the room in a red-brown earthy tone. It looks almost like an ordinary living room, with a few rose-gold couches and mirrors and paintings. The only thing obviously different are the tens of coffins.   
 

The back half of the church has crumbled away into the fern and jungle green grass, and a few flowers. In the center is a big hickory-barked cypress tree, standing strong. It seems to pulse with a green and purple magic, and he feels calmed instantly. There are twelve coffins around the grass, each with a small message, and then Matt sees Jc's face on a picture. 

 

"Calliope, why is Jc here?" the coffin lid is closed, thank goodness, but there's still an eerie sense that lingers in the air. Matt looks back at Calliope, who suddenly appears bashful. "I've come here every time one of you has passed. To say a goodbye. I know it won't really matter." She looks away at the other pictures.   
Matt follows her gaze, and suddenly feels overwhelmed. He remembers earlier in the night, when everyone had learned most of them would be dying to save Everlock. He had slammed his hand down.

_"Why should I care? I don't know any of these people, why should I care about what happens to them?"_

And now here Calliope was, doing just the opposite; respecting his friends enough to give them a proper resting place. She hasn't even known them for twelve hours, and she's cared about what happened to them. He wants to hug her so bad. But instead he clears his throat to keep the tears down. He can't let his friends see him like this.

 

"Thank you," He barely whispers to her. She nods, eyes almost emotionless.  
Almost.

He finds an open coffin, which is nice with smooth wood on the outside and a soft black inside. He places Safiya inside as gently as he can, and he closes her eyes. He re-places her hands in a neat way and tucks her ears behind her hair, while Ro steps up with a multitude of beautifully coloured flowers. She places them all around the coffin - around, like a blanket, in Safiya's hair, her chest, her wound, her outfit, everywhere. Ro lets out a choked sob, and Matt buries her in a hug.

He hears her thumping heart, and it mingles with his own steady one. Anger surges in him for a second at how unfair this all is - then it's gone. The five of them stand in the warm air on the field, and Matt sees a small podium near the base of the tree. He steps up towards it. "If anyone wants to say anything, please step up to the podium."  
Rosanna stands up first. Her eyes are puffy, and tears bubble and stream down her cheeks freely. 

"Safiya," She mumbles softly, addressing the coffin. "You were an amazing part of the team, and -" she hiccups. "We're all going to miss you very very much. I love you and, we're gonna win and get out of here-" Another hiccup. "Okay?" She steps down, chokes, and bursts into fresh tears. Calliope immediately is at her side, making her sit down on the grass and smoothing her hair soothingly, mumbling something Matt can't hear. Joey's next.

"Safiya, you were amazing. You were super helpful, and easily one of the smartest people here. What they did to you was unfair. I'm so sorry for what happened. We'll miss you." He steps down and nods at Matt to go. He suddenly feels oddly anxious. 

  
Matt is about to step up, when he sees someone in the distance. They're walking from the cemetery and gazing ahead proudly. It's Manny and Nikita. Matt's stomach fills with dread. But there's no air of haughtiness. No prideful stance or tellings-off. Instead, Nikita's eyes look humbled and downcast, same with Manny. They both stand near one of the trees, not exactly a part of the group. Manny adjusts his emerald green suit, while Nikita gives a small nod as a greeting.

 

They're _here._

They came.

 

Before Matt fully comprehends what this means, Nikita's pulled him into a tight hug. After a quick second, he tentatively hugs her back, kind of awkwardly. Then fully-forced, wrapping his arms around under her arms and burying his face into her shoulder. Nikita doesn't budge. Just..lets him hug her. Matt starts trembling lightly. "I'm sorry, you don't need to get over it." Matt's ears seem to perk up. "Take as much time as you need." She says it softly, a melody to his ears. 

"Thanks,” Matt’s voice crackles and sobs as he hugs her. He can’t even express what this means to him; he can’t quite comprehend it himself. He then moves over and hugs Manny. The Record Producer smiles slightly, hugging him back. He’s also flushed quite a bit, but it could just be his imagination.

Nikita turns from him, and instead addresses everyone else present. “We’re a team. It means we’ll stick together, and we’ll get sad when we lose one of the team. And that’s normal. I don’t think..” she plays with some clicks in her mouth. Matt’s too busy wiping hot tears from his eyes. “I didn’t get it before. So, go ahead Matt. They deserve a proper funeral.” She clears her throat, and steps in beside Ro and Manny.

Matt can’t even fully comprehend her speech. He just knows that he’s never been more grateful to Nikita in his life.

 

He doesn’t know who they’ll lose next. He doesn’t know who’s going to survive - heck, he doesn’t even know if it’ll be him. But he knows that they’ll all be a better team from now on. No more arguments - no more fighting amongst themselves. He glances at The Troublemaker, who’s currently adjusting her dress. She notices his gaze and nods firmly at him. 

 

Matt takes a deep breath, steps up to the small podium, and begins his goodbye. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I promise I'll be making new stories and updating soon ack - but I hope you enjoyed!! Hopefully it's okay lol  
> \- Dawson


End file.
